Pedro Navarro

Pedro Navarro (1460-28 August 1528) was a Spanish military engineer and general who fought in the War of the League of Cambrai. Captured by France at Ravenna in 1512, he entered France's service in 1515 and served King Francis I of France until his death in 1528.

Biography
Pedro Navarro was born in Garde, Navarre, Spain in 1460, and he took part in the fight against the Barbary States in the Mediterranean as a condottiero. In 1499, he was enlisted by Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba, and he took part in the 1500 siege of Cephalonia. Navarro became Fernandez de Cordoba's chief engineer, constructing the field fortifications at the Battle of Cerignola. After the Battle of Garigliano, he was created Count of Oliveto for his services. In 1507, he took part in expeditions to North Africa, including the capture of Oran in 1509. In 1510, he personally led the Spanish forces during the conquest of Bougie, Algiers, Tunis, Tlemcen, and Tripoli, and he returned to Italy in 1511 to fight against France during the War of the League of Cambrai. He was captured at the Battle of Ravenna in 1512, and King Ferdinand II of Aragon refused to ransom him; he defected to France, accompanying King Francis I of France at the Battle of Marignano in 1515 and the Battle of Bicocca in 1522. From 1523 to 1526, he was imprisoned after being captured at Genoa, and he was again captured during the 1527 expedition into Italy, dying as a prisoner at the Castel Nuovo in Naples in 1528, possibly being smothered as a pillow.